The latest on the UK's fuel crisis

The UK military is on standby to deliver gasoline to service stations after a shortage of tanker drivers forced some to close last week, triggering a spate of panic buying by British motorists.

With thousands of service stations having since run dry, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has announced a series of emergency measures to address the fuel crisis, including issuing temporary work visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers and suspending competition law to allow suppliers to deliver fuel to rival operators.

The government said late on Monday that British Army tanker drivers had been "brought to a state of readiness" and could be used to deliver fuel where it is needed most.

The Automobile Association (AA) appealed for calm on Friday after BP was forced to temporarily close some of its stations for the second time in as many months because of the driver shortage. Yet many Brits paid little heed, flocking to service stations in hopes of securing fuel for the week ahead.

The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents independent fuel suppliers, told the BBC that as many as two-thirds of the 5,500 service stations operated by its members were out of fuel, with the rest of them "partly dry and running out soon." Social media users have reported long lines at stations across the country, and some motorists on longer trips have been forced to abandon their cars after running out of fuel.

Companies including ExxonMobil and Shell said in a statement released by the government on Sunday they wanted to "reassure the public that the issues that have arisen are due to temporary spikes in customer demand, not a national shortage of fuel."

Worker shortages are a growing problem in Britain, which has a record 1 million job vacancies. The shortage of truck drivers has been exacerbated by the pandemic and Brexit, which resulted in tens of thousands of EU nationals leaving trucking jobs and other occupations in the United Kingdom.

According to the Road Haulage Association, the United Kingdom is short around 100,000 truck drivers. Last month, the UK government said that "most of the solutions" to the crisis would be driven by industry, and that it did not want to rely on workers from outside the country.

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Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of visas the United Kingdom is offering foreign truck drivers.

British drivers are being urged not to panic buy gasoline after a shortage of truck drivers forced BP to temporarily close some of its UK service stations.

The Automobile Association (AA) appealed for calm on Friday as drivers in some parts of the United Kingdom flocked to gas stations.

"There is no shortage of fuel and thousands of [stations] are operating normally with just a few suffering temporary supply chain problems," AA President Edmund King told CNN Business. He warned drivers against filling up "outside their normal routines" as "even if the occasional petrol station is temporarily closed, others just down the road will be open."

Yet some Brits paid little heed as the weekend approached, with Shell warning of long lines at stations.

"We are seeing an increased demand today for fuel at some of our stations, which may in some instances result in larger queues. We are adapting our delivery schedules to ensure sufficient supplies for our customers," Shell said in a statement.

Worker shortages are a growing problem in Britain, which had a record 1 million job vacancies between June and August, according to the Office for National Statistics. The shortage of truck drivers has been exacerbated by the pandemic and Brexit, which resulted in tens of thousands of EU nationals leaving their trucking jobs in the United Kingdom.

BP said in a statement on Thursday that it was "experiencing some fuel supply issues at some of our retail sites in the UK and unfortunately have therefore seen a handful of sites temporarily close due to a lack of both unleaded and diesel grades."

The company blamed "industry-wide driver shortages across the [United Kingdom]" for the supply chain crunch. "We are prioritizing deliveries to motorway service areas, major trunk roads and sites with largest demand and seeking to minimize the duration of stock outs," it added.

BP declined to comment on how many gas stations would be affected, but a person familiar with the situation said that "tens" of sites were experiencing fuel shortages.

This is the second time in as many months that BP has had to temporarily shutter some UK locations because of problems distributing fuel due to a lack of truck drivers. According to the Road Haulage Association, the United Kingdom is short around 100,000 truck drivers, 20,000 of whom were EU nationals that left the country after Brexit.